Jeffrey James Schwarz (born March 28, 1996) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

Amateur career

Schwarz attended

Palm Beach Gardens Community High School Palm Beach Gardens Community High School is a public magnet high school for grades 9–12 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The school mascot is the Gator. It was built in 1968 as a public high school. The original school was demolished and a new ...

Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Palm Beach Gardens is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, approximately 80 miles north of Miami. Palm Beach Gardens is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The population was 59,182 at the ...

. As a senior, he hit .337 with seven

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

and 35

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if th ...

(RBI). He was drafted by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

in the 17th round of the

2014 MLB draft The 2014 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June 6, and the last 30 round ...

. He did not sign with the Brewers and attended the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

where he played

for the

. Schwarz started all 70 games his freshman year at Florida in 2015. In 256 at-bats he hit .332 and led the team in RBI (73), home runs (18), doubles (16),

sacrifice flies In baseball, a sacrifice fly (sometimes abbreviated to sac fly) is defined by Rule 9.08(d): "Score a sacrifice fly when, before two are out, the batter hits a ball in flight handled by an outfielder or an infielder running in the outfield in fair o ...

(6), and

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at-bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at-bats for a given player, an ...

(.629). Against

Stetson University Stetson University is a private university in DeLand, Florida, United States. Established in 1883 as DeLand Academy, it was later renamed John B. Stetson University in honor of John B. Stetson. The university's main campus in DeLand spans 175 ...

, he hit a school-record four home runs. He helped lead Florida to the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is a baseball tournament held each June in Omaha, Nebraska. It is the culmination of the NCAA Division I baseball tournament—featuring 64 teams in the ...

, where they were eliminated by

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. He was named the Freshman Player of the Year by the ''

Collegiate Baseball Newspaper ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...

'' and the Freshman Hitter of the Year by the

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 30 teams in the n ...

(NCBWA). In 2016, as a sophomore, Schwarz batted .290 with seven home runs and 60 RBI. In 2016, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

. As a junior in 2017, he batted .259 with 12 home runs and 54 RBI. He was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

in the 38th round of the

2017 MLB draft The 2017 Major League Baseball draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on June 12, while the remai ...

, but did not sign and returned to Florida. In 2018, his senior year, he was named to the All-SEC First Team.

Professional career

Oakland Athletics

Schwarz was drafted by the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

in the eighth round, with the 223rd overall selection, of the

2018 Major League Baseball draft The 2018 Major League Baseball draft began on June 4, 2018. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was determined based on the reverse order of the 2017 MLB season final standings. In addition, compensation pi ...

. He signed with Oakland on July 6 and made his professional debut with the rookie–level

Arizona League Athletics The Arizona Complex League Athletics are a Minor League Baseball team based in Mesa, Arizona, which plays as a Rookie-level team in the Arizona Complex League and has served as a farm team for the Athletics organization since 1988. They play thei ...

before being promoted to the Low–A

Vermont Lake Monsters The Vermont Lake Monsters are a collegiate summer baseball team located in Burlington, Vermont, United States, who were founded in 1994 as the Vermont Expos. They were members of Minor League Baseball, in the New York–Penn League (NYPL), ...

. In 25 games between the two teams, Schwarz hit .266 with ten RBI. He began 2019 with the High–A

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Banner I ...

, and also spent time with the Single–A

Beloit Snappers The Beloit Sky Carp are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are located in Beloit, Wisconsin, and play their home games at ABC Supply Stadium. They previously played at Harry C ...

. Playing only 44 games between both clubs due to injury, he batted .148/.239/.225 in 142 at bats with three home runs and 14 RBI. Schwarz did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. In 2021, playing for Midland he batted .240/.336/.362 with six home runs and 36 RBI across 72 games. Playing in 2022 for Midland and the Triple–A

Las Vegas Aviators The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Athletics. They are located in Summerlin South, Nevada, a comm ...

, Schwarz batted .294/.383/.453 with nine home runs and 43 RBI across 80 combined contests. Schwarz split the 2023 campaign with Midland and Las Vegas, accumulating a .220/.319/.351 with eight home runs and 39 RBI across 76 combined appearances. He was released by the Athletics organization on March 25, 2024.

Gastonia Baseball Club

On July 16, 2024, Schwarz signed with the

Gastonia Baseball Club The Gastonia Ghost Peppers are a professional baseball team based in Gastonia, North Carolina, which began play in 2024. They compete in the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseb ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. In 21 games for Gastonia, he slashed .197/.279/.329 with two home runs and 13 RBI. On August 20, Schwarz retired from professional baseball.

Personal

Schwarz's father, Jeff Schwarz, played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

, and his sister, Taylor Schwarz, played softball at Florida.

References

External links

Florida Gators bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz, J. J. 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida Baseball players from Palm Beach County, Florida Baseball catchers Florida Gators baseball players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Arizona League Athletics players Vermont Lake Monsters players Beloit Snappers players Stockton Ports players